Found these pics that seem to be close to final production...

Via the Anovos twitter page...



Found these on the Star Wars New Zealand Network via the google.

http://dr-maul.com/swnz/forums/viewtopi ... 4&start=10
















comparison to the DPD

Never really been a fan of this image angle...




This is one of my all time favorite views of the ESB Vader - an ever so slightly up-angle view



The Anovos looks like it could be a descent lid for people who want a seemingly accessible helmet. ...provided these start shipping - which they were supposed to start in April - and April is almost over.

If it actually looks like the pictures they're using there, I'd buy one. I'll wait till I see some owners pics and more follow up from folks like the more knowledgable members here before I would pull the trigger. I currently have 2 lids in hand and two on order, so I probably better just wait till Sskunky gets his cast ready.
Looks really good in those pictures though!

I think there are some major flaws in the one pictured. Some fixable and some that need re-sculpting. But the one thing I dont get is why they didn't paint the upper inside of the eyelids black. Its an simple detail that can make this helmet look cheap if not fixed on the production model.

Nothing a little magic black marker can't fix, Juan.

What I like about this helmet, though it screams "commercial manufacturing", is the magnetic mount square block mount.

Another interesting touch I like, are the greeblies and vents hidden under the dome. That little feature makes this helmet unique from nearly any other helmet available.

Is it just me, or has Anovos changed their description of this helmet?

I believe this was on the website at one time...

"Add to your impressive Star Wars prop replica collection with this amazing version of Darth Vader's helmet! Utilizing the best features of the various helmets made from the classic Star Wars trilogy, this Star Wars Darth Vader Standard Helmet Prop Replica features faithful detailing, with the two-tone paint scheme from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back."

Without changing the "prototype photo", I no longer find that text on the website, which seems to have been replaced with this...

"This ensemble includes details duplicated from STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK screen-used costume provided by Skywalker Archives and other sources.

• Helmet is created from digital scans and reference from the original prop.
• Two-toned paint scheme is accurate to original prop used in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
• Reveal style greeblies and vents on upper forehead of facemask are hidden by the dome when worn.
• Tusks are made of turned aluminum.
• Bubble lenses are tinted."

Helmet has some very beautiful qualities. Truly.

Wondering though why the eyes seem to have been enlarged? Or facet along tip of "eyebrow" removed?

And the "lip" around the mouth (triangle shape) seems to have lost a little bit of its width around the mouth - this is something that can happen with excess cleaning up (having done that). Wondering if this might be the case here.

But still very wonderful to see this piece.

I think ANOVOS is just updating their marketing talking points in these new descriptions from the helmet being an amalgam of the best features from helmets from various movies to being specifically based on ESB. I think to most prospective buyers knowing which movie the helmet is most closely based on is better for marketing it than just calling it a generic Vader helmet. Plus by calling it ESB it is more simply differentiated from the eFx PCR ANH which would be (might be?) its main licensed helmet competitor.

Whether the updated descriptions correspond to actual revisions versus the prototype (other than the bubble lenses for production), who knows. But we should know soon because according to the ANOVOS website the preordered helmets are now shipping to customers.

Is ANOVOS out of line in changing their description? No I don't think so. In an early ANOVOS interview they showed their first prototype and stated it is most closely derived from Episode 5.

The points about using digital scans, archival references, etc. is just par for the course in the industry. eFx said the same about their ANH PCR Stormtrooper. Being 100% symmetric, it was clearly not a 3D print of a scan of an original helmet. It's bordering on misleading but the specific wording says they based it on or had access to such data but then make no claim the degree to which that was incorporated into the final product.

All's Fair in Love and War and the Marketing of Replica Props.

My thinking is this:

Since this helmet seems to be based off of digital scans and "reference material", working on a digitized design would make it easier, if not just overly tempting, to clean up the lines of the helmet. ...just looking at the diagonal lines around the mouth, they cleaned off the taper as the lines come down towards the tusks.

Agree it's still a nice helmet. Now that it's (allegedly) shipping, I'd be more inclined to buy it if I didn't already have an ESB on it's way.

We'll need to see some actual production copies to know for sure. But yeah DJ the eyes were one of the first things that looked off to me, not just the gray instead of black above the eyes. But the overall shape looks too circular. Too rounded in curvature especially the lower right eye. The outer eye shape should look more like a swept-back oval.

They probably did start from digital scans and tweaked it from there. Inserting inaccuracies is a common requirement by the licensor. Which I don't think current or future owners of authentic casts will take umbrage with ;)

Its because the width of the top eye lids are way thinner than they are suppose to be. That was also a trait on the Don post and Rubie Statue helmets from the 90's.

I like the vent areas added, as in with this being an Anovos, not something I'd even consider on my Stone or SPFX lids. Not sure why the dental expanded are glued on up there? Were they on the reveal lid? Shows how much I've watched Jedi.....

Another aspect of the eyes I have just noticed is the lenses themselves. They're too perfectly spherical. In some of these pictures I keep seeing the alien 4 hybrid eyes! So many details to completely nail the Vader look.

This photo of Ron Punter's ESB mask submitted by sskunky shows how complex the eyebrow is and shows the facets resulting from a dip along the top middle yielding two edges. From a profile view, the angle from the front of the eyebrow downward is not vertical but slanted at an angle which with lighting from below and shot from below will make it look thicker. How far up the black paint extends on the underside of the eyebrow can also affect how thick the eyebrow looks when photographed from below. And finally the more rounded curvature when lit from multiple angles will reflect the light off the eyebrow more broadly also enhancing the look of greater thickness. Certainly not an easy shape to replicate without a mold or scan of the original.

Well there it is....wonder what possessed them to alter the brow?

The search for a more accurate looking mask